Thursday, June 28, 2007

Google map your Picasa Web Albums!

+(Aug.4/07 - Post Updated: Steps to map photos has been updated - Thanks to comment posters Max and Joni for pointing this out)Want to share the geo-location of where your photos were taken? Picasa Web Albums now allows you to show family and friends where in the world photos in your album were photographed! If you don't already use Picasa or Picasa Web Albums, check things out here. If you're already a user follow these steps to map your pictures:

When you have finished adding photos go to the album and click the "Map Photos" button

Your photos appear in the left margin. Simply drag your photos to the location they were taken (zoom in for better accuracy)

When you are done, you can go back into the photo itself and correct the location by clicking "Edit Location"

The above steps may be different for older web albums that already exist

Now when you view the album a "View Map" button appears. When you click on it a full size Google Map appears showing all your photos. Here is a photo map I created showing photos I've taken in various locations around the world:

There's a nice feature in map view that lets you "play" a tour of the photos, hopping between each location. This would make a nice tourist info-center slideshow (showing pictures of the area) or tradeshow display on a large plasma screen (to show projects your company has done). Each photo also contains an inset map that indicates where that particular photo was taken. Now you can display your photos on a Google Map easily! Picasa Web Albums is also now announcing a way to view your albums on a mobile device!

Panoramio - Share your best photos through the Panoramio community. Panoramio is a photo sharing site that Google is planning to acquire. While Picasa will let you share your personal photos with family and friends Panoramio will make your photos discoverable through the web and on Google Earth by millions from around the world!

Google My Maps - Google Maps contains a nifty feature called My Maps that lets you create and annotate your own map with a few clicks and without any knowledge of code or programming. Include photos from Picasa Web Albums (or elsewhere) and plot other locations that may not have a photo associated.